Glover has organised an event on Wednesday, Community Nitrate Testing, where Selwyn residents on private wells are invited to bring along a drinking water sample and pay $10 to have it tested.
He said people getting their water tested can have the results included as part of a new study being undertaken by Otago University if they wish.
The university researchers plan to create a national database of contaminants in drinking water in New Zealand for the first time.
They received a $1.2 million grant for the research after mounting evidence from overseas suggested nitrate was linked to pre-term births.
"It needs more study, and the problem with a lot of private wells in New Zealand, there’s no database, it’s up to individual people to get their testing done," Glover said.
He has a a private well, where nitrate levels had skyrocketed in recent years from 0.5mg per litre to 5mg per litre.
"That’s a bit scary for me," Glover said.
While the level remained lower than New Zealand’s official Maximum Acceptable Value of 11.3mg per litre, the upward trajectory concerned him.
And levels at much lower than the MAV - in fact as low as 1mg per litre - had been associated with bowel cancer risk in previous research.
Nitrate contamination is mainly driven by pastoral farming.
The most affected parts of New Zealand are those with intensive agriculture, such as Canterbury and Southland.
Nitrates leaching into groundwater, from dairy farming in particular, has increased substantially since 1990.
Glover said the Community Nitrate Testing day is being supported by New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers, which will provide the testing equipment.
The $10 cost is to cover expenses.
- The community nitrate testing day will be held on August 10, at the Springston South Soldiers Memorial Hall, 433 Days Rd, Springston, from 2-6pm.
